Latest news with #StarFox
Metro
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
If Borderlands 4 costs £80 Gearbox's boss thinks you should pay it
How much would you pay for Borderlands 4? (Take-Two Interactive) Randy Pitchford thinks that 'real fans' will 'find a way to make it happen' if Borderlands 4 ends up costing £80, but he insists the price isn't up to him. It's true that the price of video games has varied little since gaming went mainstream in the 80s and 90s. Back in 1991, the average price of a movie ticket in the UK was £3.03 and it's now close to £8. And yet, at the same time, SNES games were regularly £50 to £60, with the occasional high-end title, such as Starwing (aka Star Fox), costing even more. And that's ignoring the cost of import games – at a time when many games were never released in the UK – which could easily cost £100 or more. Not only has the face value of the games barely increased but adjusted for inflation, £50 in 1991 would be over £113 today. And yet the idea of paying £80 for Borderlands 4 has caused outrage even amongst fans of the series. It's becoming increasingly likely that £80/$80 will become the norm for triple-A video games in the near future, with Mario Kart World costing £75 for the physical version (although no other Switch 2 game is that much and it's cheaper on digital) and Microsoft warning all its games are set to increase to $80 from this Christmas. Other publishers are expected to follow suit, with particular concern over rumours that GTA 6 will end up costing £100 or more – which other publishers will also try to copy once it's released next May. At the same time, it's expected that the idea of a set price for most video games will also become a thing of the past, with Nintendo already embracing the idea of dynamic pricing, as well as Rockstar Games owner Take-Two – who is only charging £45 for the upcoming Mafia: The Old Country. That makes it very difficult to guess how much this year's Borderlands 4 is going to cost, since it's also published by Take-Two, although many fans fear it will be $80/£80. A reader asked Randy Pitchford, co-founder of developer Gearbox, about the issue on X and got an unexpected reply: 'A) Not my call. B) If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis [aka Mega Drive] for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlour in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen.' You can imagine how that went down with fans, with many not believing that it's not Pitchford's decision – which it isn't, although he probably can have some influence over publisher Take-Two. We can't repeat some of the more impassioned responses to his tweet but Synth Potato insisted that, 'Dawg we are NOT paying $80 for a Borderlands game fully knowing you'll do multiple season passes that cost another $100 and you'll probably sell weapon skins too.' One of the more sage replies came from Jared Shapiro, who asked: 'How many units of Starflight were sold in total? How many units of Borderland 4 do you expect to move?' As he implies, Starflight was extremely niche and did not sell well, especially not on the Mega Drive. 'The $80 price point wasn't a thing when it [Borderlands 4] went into development, why not keep it at the targeted $70 to show your fans some good will? Maybe keep the budget in check for the next one and you can get it out at $60 and get praise like [Clair Obscur:] Expedition 33 and the Oblivion remake got for pushing out at $50,' he added. This is not the first time Pitchford has claimed not to know how much the game will be sold for, which may be true, but a decision needs to be made soon as it's supposed to be out on September 12. 'It's an interesting time,' he said at the PAX East event at the weekend, via IGN. 'On one level, we've got a competitive marketplace where the people that make those choices want to sell as many units as possible and they want to be careful about people that are price sensitive. There are some folks who don't want to see prices go up, even the ones deciding what the prices are.' 'There's other folks accepting the reality that game budgets are increasing and there's tariffs for the retail packaging. It's getting gnarly out there, you guys. Borderlands 4 has more than twice the development budget for Borderlands 3. More than twice. So the truth is, I don't know what the price is going to be,' he added. Borderlands 4's price may be a step too far for some fans (Take-Two Interactive) Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Baldur's Gate 3 may have the worst video game merchandise ever made Arrow MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 OLED Model is happening if Samsung gets its way Arrow MORE: The Last Of Us Part 3 suffers new blow as Naughty Dog admit to second secret game
Tom's Guide
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Switch 2 is finally getting GameCube games — here's the 7 I hope get added next
Nintendo Switch 2 is launching with a long-awaited feature: Nintendo GameCube games are finally coming to Nintendo Switch Online! The GameCube was one of my very first consoles growing up, and that's meant I've always had a bit of a soft spot for that purple cube. Naturally, I've been looking forward to digging a little deeper into the system's library ever since the announcement happened during the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct. Now that we're just a couple of weeks out from the new console's launch and we already have an initial list of confirmed GameCube titles, it seems as good a time as any to share a list of titles that I'd most like to see come to Switch 2 on the Nintendo GameCube Nintendo Classics app. When Nintendo revealed GameCube titles were coming in April's big Switch 2 Direct, the Mario makers revealed there would be three GameCube games available on the Nintendo Classics app. Below, you can see what these games are (highlighted in bold), plus every single game shown that was advertised as 'coming soon' to the service. It's certainly not the most exhaustive list, but it's a decent selection of some major, interesting, rarer, or expensive titles stuck on the system. That gives me hope Nintendo just might be willing to dig into the GameCube library and give more games a second chance at finding an audience. I know that Star Fox fans don't have a lot of love for Rare's action-adventure title, but I do, and this is my list. Born from a merger between a Star Fox sequel and Dinosaur Planet, a game Rare had in development at the time, Star Fox Adventures sees hotshot Arwing pilot Fox McCloud exploring Dinosaur Planet… on foot. Equipped with a lost staff and accompanied by his pipsqueak triceratops companion, Prince Tricky, Fox sets out on a very different quest to save the various dinosaur races from the evil General Scales. Gameplay is analogous to 3D Zeldas. You explore various regions, solve puzzles, fight enemies, and unlock new powers as you go. There's no denying that it's a vast departure from the franchise's high-octane space battles, and it features melee combat that will feel limited by today's standards, but I maintain it's a solid adventure. Star Fox diehards are probably hoping that Star Fox Assault is the game that makes it to Switch 2, but I'd still love the chance to revisit Dinosaur Planet, if possible. Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem likely needs no introduction to horror fans, as this game has endured as a cult favorite from the console, thanks in no small part to its fourth wall-breaking scares. It's a story of unknown forces being tangled up in a millennia-old plot and various characters across time, all working to thwart an ancient evil. In between chapters, you'll take control of protagonist Alex, using the knowledge she learns from these episodes to explore her grandfather's Rhode Island mansion, trying to figure out what happened to her murdered relative. Sure, combat will feel clunky by today's standards, and the freaky 'sanity effects' scares that mimicked old TV settings won't land the same way they would if you were playing 20 years back on a CRT TV. But these elements make Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem a novel enough game that new players should give it a chance. Despite being an avid Metroidvania fan, I very much prefer the "vania" side of the genre, and have far more experience slaying vampires as the Belmont clan in Castlevania than I do battling space pirates. But after tackling several Metroid adventures on Switch, thanks to Nintendo Switch Online, Metroid Dread, and Metroid Prime Remastered, I'm keen to see as much of the franchise as possible. While I've since dug into a lot of the 2D adventures, I'm eager to see more of the Prime line, without having to dig out my GameCube and track down a copy on the secondhand market. Multiplayer offering aside, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes comes highly recommended (it's 92 on MetaCritic) and that's seemingly down to tougher combat, new weapons, the atmosphere, and the impressive visuals. Would I prefer to see the rest of the Prime trilogy remastered and brought to Switch? Absolutely, but if not, I'll settle for Echoes on Nintendo Classics. Look, if Nintendo is seemingly content to never bring the Wii U Zelda ports to the current gen (and Wind Waker is a launch day GameCube Switch 2 release), this will have to do. Darker in tone than its island-hopping forebear, this 3D action-adventure sees us playing as Link, a humble farmhand fated to save the land from the King of Shadows, Zant, who plunges parts of the realm into perpetual Twilight. With the help of the impish creature, Midna, and the use of his wolf form, Link explores the far reaches of Hyrule, delving into dungeons, tackling bosses and puzzles, and utilizing various artifacts and powers to save both Hyrule and the Twilight Realm from this invading evil. Before I say anything, I don't expect this will happen at all. A quick look across the internet will show you a clear appetite for this beloved licensed game to make a comeback… so there must be a reason why it hasn't. Nevertheless, it was a classic for many gamers of my generation, and for good reason: It's essentially GTA: Springfield. Following on from Crazy Taxi riff, The Simpsons: Road Rage, and The Simpsons: Hit & Run moved over to aping Rockstar's tentpole series. Taking the form of an extended episode of the show (complete with the show's writers and voice cast), the game sees players roaming around a sandbox Springfield, primarily from behind the wheel of various vehicles from the show. Along the way, you'll tackle missions, hunt for secrets and collectables, or earn cash to spend on new cars and outfits. It's a genuinely funny ride. And, seeing as we've never had the sequel or remaster so many of us want, it'd be nice to see it make a comeback on Switch 2. I've dipped into the Wario Land series over the years, but until I started working on this list, I must confess I had no idea that Mario's nemesis had gotten his own quasi-3D platforming adventure on the GameCube — and now I want to play it. Wario World finds the titular treasure-loving gremlin cozied up inside his castle, atop huge piles of treasure. Well, until a mysterious black jewel comes to life and transforms his treasure into monsters and warps the world around him into some bizarre dimension. True to his way, Wario sets off to recover his fortune and does so by beating up bad guys and bosses, solving puzzles and sucking up his precious gold. Reviews I've read don't necessarily make it sound like an all-time classic. But this intriguing (if short) adventure is one that's piqued my interest. Nintendo: do the right thing and bring it back! Hideki Kamiya's bizarre 2.5D cel-shaded beat 'em up is fascinating stuff. You take control of Joe, an everyday film buff who has to spring into action after a trip to the movies goes wrong. After a movie villain reaches through the silver screen and kidnaps Joe's girlfriend, Joe enters "Movieland" to rescue her. Here, Joe meets the superhero Captain Blue and is gifted a V-Watch. This device allows him to transform into a superhero who can deploy various 'VFX' powers like slowing down or speeding up time as he punches and kicks his way through tons of cartoonish bad guys. What follows is an amazing beat 'em up experience unlike anything else I've played. Campy and challenging, Viewtiful Joe is a 1-2 punch of beautiful visuals and addictive combat. It's a sharp and incredibly stylish experience that I'd love to come to Nintendo's new console.
Daily Mail
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch gets financial boost as video game tycoon donates £2million to Conservative Party
A British video game tycoon has given a £2million donation to the Tory party. The money from Jeremy Elliott, who is better known as Jez San, will give a huge boost to Kemi Badenoch 's leadership, just days before challenging local elections. I can disclose that Mr San, who founded Argonaut Software in his bedroom as a teenager during the early 1980s computer boom, gave £1million in February. He then gave a second surprise £1million earlier this month. He is the biggest donor to Tory funds since Mrs Badenoch became party leader in November. Mr San used to be a Labour supporter, but turned against Keir Starmer after the record £40billion tax-raising Autumn Budget. His Argonaut company produced the Harry Potter, Alien Resurrection and Star Fox hit console games. It was also instrumental in developing early 3D graphics technologies, including the SuperFX chip used by Nintendo. Mr San, 59, and his wife Natasha had dinner with Mrs Badenoch and her husband Hamish, who works in the City. They bonded over the Tory leader's pledge to cut regulation, taxes and to try to ensure Britain develops maximum potential from AI. Computer games have been kind to Mr San. In 2022 he bought Palazzo di Vista, a £40million mansion in Los Angeles where his neighbours include Jennifer Aniston, Beyonce and Elon Musk. He's also a major donor to Great Ormond Street children's hospital. Like most of his competitors, Mr San was an early computer user. He was 12 when his father brought back from the US a TRS-80, a forerunner of today's PCs. But his parents and teachers were far from encouraging. In a rare interview, he said: 'Everyone thought it was a terrible influence. I was staying up all night, every night. 'It's a while since I've seen the sunrise after working all night, but at school it happened all the time. I was hacking before it was made illegal, but never since.' He was only 16 when the money started to roll in. 'Some friends and I wrote a game called Skyline Attack,' he says. 'My share of the profits bought a second-hand Volkswagen Scirocco GTi. Computers have given me a great new car about every 18 months since.' Starting from a Saturday job at a computer shop in Edgware, north-west London, less than a mile from Argonaut's offices, he now employs hundreds globally. Mrs Badenoch told me: 'I was delighted to meet Jez San, who is one of our great entrepreneurs and innovators. His donations are an important statement of support in the Conservative Party to lead Britain out of the current economic malaise.' A source close to Mr San told me: 'Jez does not believe you can tax your way to growth. He has huge concerns over Labour's tax-heavy approach, which is driving top talent and investors abroad. 'He will offer policy advice to the Tories to help champion high-growth sectors and reward homegrown innovation. He believes you have to reward risk takers.' The revelation of the donations comes at the end of a strong week for Mrs Badenoch who had her best performance at the despatch box at Prime Minister's Questions this week when she mocked Sir Keir's U-turn on the definition of woman in the aftermath of the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Save the Dates: JDM's Destination X Premiere, Usher Concert Film and More
The NBC competition series Destination X, hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, will premiere Tuesday, May 27 at 10/9c, following the America's Got Talent season premiere. A sneak peek will air after the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 3 at 8 pm ET/7:30 pm PT on NBC. In the program, 'Europe is turned into a real-life gameboard as complete strangers are invited to participate in the trip of a lifetime and the ultimate geo-guessing contest,' reads the official description. 'These adventurous players will traverse each country on a blacked-out Destination X bus with the goal of figuring out where the 'X' they are each week. More from TVLine Royal Pains Revival Eyed at NBC, With Mark Feuerstein Returning to Star Fox Sets Summer Premiere Dates for Animated Favorites, MasterChef, The Snake and More The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3: Conrad Interrupts Belly and Jeremiah's Bliss in Teaser Trailer 'In each episode, the players disembark the bus to visit unique and unfamiliar tourist attractions that have been gamified into experiential challenges,' the description continues. 'They will need to rely on their knowledge of pop culture, history, geography and observational skills to win clues to their current location and earn an all-important advantage. Contestants must tap into their own personal expertise, identify hidden clues that are disguised as artifacts and discern intentional misdirects from competitors to ultimately determine their whereabouts.' Reality TV vets JaNa Craig (Love Island), Josh Martinez (Big Brother) and Peter Weber (The Bachelor) will play alongside the nine hopefuls. In other recent scheduling news… * The spy thriller Black Bag, starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, will stream on Peacock beginning Friday, May 2, while Love Hurts, with Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose, hits the service Friday, May 9. * Season 2 of Prime Video's animated adult comedy The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy will premiere with all eight episodes Tuesday, May 27. * Jerrod Carmichael's comedy special Don't Be Gay will premiere Saturday, May 24 at 10 pm on HBO (and stream on Max). * The concert film Usher: Rendezvous in Paris will debut on BET+, beginning Thursday, May 8. Watch a trailer: Best of TVLine Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others
